The Atlantis Misson
by Shivantha
Summary: a new team of spartans have embarked on a journey to find a city built by the mythical forerunners. But when they arrive at the city all is not wat is to be expected. Rated M fer violence, and mass swearing, ENJOY, BTW chapter 2 has now been put up
1. The tale begins

**(A/N) **Okay….so this is my/our first fic. Me and my editor (Kontraband) have been planning on something like this for a while. Please, don't flame…it's not worth your time.

**(Disclaimer: Neither I, nor my editor Kontraband own any part of Halo, Halo2, Halo3 or anything to with the games. All of our knowledge is from Bungie and the authors of the Halo books…as well as some shit from the halo wiki.**

ENJOY

Prologue

The brute stared around at the flaming buildings in disgust. His fellow brethren and he had been commanded to destroy a human colony that had recently been built on a planet called Gravelon. The planet had been recently obtained by the UNSC forces after destroying a brute outpost stationed on the tropical forest-like planet two years ago. Now his brethren had called for revenge and so the brutes returned to the planet with a full brute armada, wiping out every last human on the planet. Granted, it had taken a full standard week, but they were almost done with the purging of the planet. The brute took a moment to look around again. He was standing inside what appeared to be a human household. Pictures hung crooked from the burning, decomposing walls, the entire house smelled of rotting flesh. On the floor lay two decapitated human bodies. The brute smiled evilly, how he had enjoyed ripping the human's heads off with his bear hands. His revenge was sweet. Suddenly he heard a noise. It was a small sobbing sound coming from the inside of a nearby closet. The brute smiled, it seemed he would be able to have a bit more fun before he left the planet.

Inside the closet 10 year old Andrew sat at the bottom of the closet sobbing in fear. The large gorilla with hair he had seen had come into his house and killed his parents single handedly. Now he was afraid he'd be next. He suddenly stopped sobbing, if he was going to die then he would die like one of the famous Spartans of the UNSC. He would go down fighting. Slowly this idea of bravery seeped into his brain making him tense up in anticipation of the coming encounter; in his right hand he gripped his father's old M6 pistol. The weapon his father had given to him just before the monster entered his house. His father's last words echoed in his mind, "_take this gun and hide in the closet son. Don't make any noise no matter what you hear, and remember that your mother and I love you." _And with that his father had shoved him into the closet. Suddenly Andrew realized that he was hearing heavy thumping noises. He wondered what they could possibly be. Then the realization of what was about to happen hit him, the monster was coming closer and closer to the closet. Then with an ear splitting sound the door of the closet came off and flew across the room. Standing framed in the doorway was the thing of nightmares. The brute stood where the door used to be, it's grey fur covered in human blood, "_my parents blood" _thought Andrew. Closing his eyes he began to fire the M6. The brute roared in laughter, the little human child was trying to shoot him with its eyes closed! The little fool would never make it in a real battle. Andrew opened his eyes in horror. He was out of ammo. It was all over, he was about to die. Then the sound of an assault rifle being fired filled the room. As Andrew looked up he saw the brute's eyes white over, and then the brute fell on him. What happened next was something Andrew had never expected. Standing where the brute had just been stood a Spartan warrior, his forest green, ceramic-like armor shined in the light of the fire. The assault rifle in his hands still smoking at the barrel after the shots. Then the Spartan looked down at Andrew and Andrew fainted, his vision enveloped in a world of darkness.

Chapter 1

Andrew hefted his mock MA5B battle rifle. Silently he took aim at a large man crouching in the bushes, his camouflage making him seem almost part of the bushes. Quickly, before the man could even take a breath, Andrew shot him three times, once in both arms and once on the back of the man's head. He smiled. "One down over here" he whispered into his TEAMCOM. It had been six long years since that fateful day on Gravelon. After awaking aboard a UNSC spaceship high in orbit, Andrew's first thought was that the monsters had taken him, but that idea left his mind as fast as it had come as soon as he saw the large man in emerald green amour standing next to his bed. These were the legendary Spartans warriors.

These men and women were super soldiers that were rumored to be able to do the impossible. If anyone could win a war filled with rather large aliens with advanced weapons, Andrew knew it would be them. But nothing could prepare Andrew for what happened next. The Spartan actually kneeled down so that his yellow tinted visor was level with Andrew's face. The Spartan then asked Andrew if he would like to join the other five hundred children who were going to be trained as Spartans. The thought of avenging his parents instantly popped into Andrew's mind and he readily agreed. After that Andrew had been whisked off to a planet much like his own for training. The only problem was that there were 100 too many children. So to eliminate those not worthy of becoming Spartans, the boys and girls were asked to shoot at a brute warrior. Of course none of the children knew that the brute was only a hologram (a damn good one at that) but it had done the trick. Those not worthy of the training couldn't fire the gun out of fear or just ran screaming at the sight of the savage monster. Andrew of course didn't have any problems with shooting at the monster, all he had to do was envision the monster that killed his parents and bam, he became a demon, shooting at the monster and fully emptying the magazine on the pistol he had been given.

It was from that point on that Andrew's training began; he was taken to an uninhabited island where he learned everything he would need to know to survive out in the war. He learned about the different species of the covenant, he learned how to fire an assault rifle properly and of course he was taught the ways of the military. It had taken three years, but in those long three years Andrew had become a lean mean, fighting machine. Of course that wasn't all that changed. In addition to being trained by the UNSC, Andrew had become part of a four-man team, as did the other to-be Spartans. Andrew's team was named team Paradox and it consisted of Andrew's most trusted friends as team mates. In his team were Sai (SPARTAN-135), Greg (SPARTAN-253), Candace (SPARTAN-298), and of course Andrew (SPARTAN-089). These four teens had become the only family that Andrew knew, each of them being like younger siblings to him (Andrew being the oldest of the four).

A far away gun shot brought Andrew back to reality. It was graduation day for the would-be Spartans. All they had to do was pass one more test and then they would become fully fledged Spartans. Andrew smiled at the thought. All he and his team had to do was infiltrate a base in the middle of the forest and ring a single bell that was hung from a stick in the middle of a clearing in the base. Of course the trainee's instructor, Chief Mendez had hired a few mercenaries to take out the teens. Luckily the guns that the mercenaries had been given only shot out rubber balls, but still if one of these rubber balls hit a trainee it would render the part of the trainee the ball hit useless for at least two hours. Andrew and his team had been lucky. They had managed to take out a few mercenaries already on a count of many of them being drunk from a full day of "happy-hour". It was a simple matter of sneaking up on the men and simply knocking them over the head with a couple of big rocks. After that the team was able to "borrow" the men's mock Assault rifles.

"Greg, up that tree, now. I need a scouting report on the terrain 5 km around here!"

"Yes Chief! Right away"!

Andrew smiled to himself…he knew they were just patronizing him to be funny. He ran a few steps forward and crouched behind a log, constantly shifting his eyes right and left.

He did a quick check behind him and saw Candace climbing a tree adjacent to the one Greg was already in. Another smile, Candace was always a step ahead of everyone, including himself, which pissed him off slightly.

"Alright, everyone knows the plan right?" Andrew whispered. Three thumbs up followed the question. Andrew smiled. It was a simple plan. Before the rest of the teams had gotten far Andrew and his team tracked them down and began a mass plot to get to the bells all at once. A nearby hoot broke the quite night air. It was the signal, the plan was in motion. Andrew began his long sprint from his covered log to the mercenary base. The base was set up in an old ghost town. It looked like something had bombed the city. Everything was either falling apart or close to falling apart. The mercenaries had set up a square of fencing around the bells, with only one entrance in the middle of the town. As Andrew ran he could feel his heart beating, his adrenaline was rising, and his brain was constantly thinking about where the mercenaries would be positioned around the camps. Finally he reached an old crumbing bar. As he hid behind the decaying building he could hear gunshots throughout the town. The plan was simple, the leaders of each team would rush the mercenaries in the middle of the night, they would take out as many of them as possible, then once they were sure the coast was clear the leaders would go and grab the bells. In the case that all the leaders were taken out, it would be up to the team's other members to finish the job and make sure the leaders got out of the base.

"HEY YOU THERE!" Andrew swiftly turned around he fired three shots to where the voice was coming from. He was rewarded with the sound of a man grunting and then a thud as the body hit the ground. Andrew frowned, he was planning on sniping from the bar since it had a perfect view of the base, but now he would have to move out. He looked around for the next best cover. There! By the bar was an old wall that had once supported a building. The building was long gone but the wall was still there. Without a second thought Andrew ran to the wall, shooting at any camouflaged men until finally he made it to the wall. Breathing heavily Andrew took a look around the wall to survey the base. What he saw didn't surprise him in the least. The base was in complete chaos, there were bodies littering the floor. It seemed the mercenaries hadn't expected a night time raid. What idiots, thought Andrew they really thought that they would be safe what night. Expect the unexpected. It was the one thing that their CO had drilled into each of their heads on the first day of training. The Brutes were notorious for taking their enemies by surprise in the most surprising ways. To deal with it the Spartans had been trained to be ready for any situation. Another hoot pierced the night. It was the signal that all of the mercenaries had been taken out. Andrew smiled, it was so easy. As he walked out from behind the cover he knew he was in trouble. In the center of the base were all his fellow leaders, kneeling down with their arms tied behind their backs. Even worse was the fact that ten mercenaries pointed their assault rifles at the leaders. One of the mercenaries sneered at Andrew.

"Did you really believe that all of us would be stupid enough to fall for a nighttime attack?" the man smiled. His dark eyes dripping with evil. "You brats have caused us enough trouble. I think that maybe we should teach you all a little lesson". The man smiled evilly as he hefted his assault rifle and pointed to one of the other leaders, Matt. "You ever been shot before kid?" Matt nodded, they all had. At least with the fake guns. "Allow me to rephrase that, have you ever been shot with real bullets?" All the trainees paled. None of them had ever really been shot before. "I think we'll start with your arms and then work our way up" the man hefted his gun and then began to laugh an insane laugh. "Just who do you kids are, messing with trained professionals. You guys haven't even been in a real battle before and you're supposed to be our only chance of survival? Bullshit!"

Andrew smiled. "You really want to know who we are?" The man's smile shrank a couple of molars. The boy's voice seemed to be both taunting and cold, almost as if he had planned this all along. Andrew smiled at the man his most mocking and cocky smile.

"Ya you little snot nosed fuck, go ahead and tell me who you guys are" the man said.

Andrew smiled again. "We're Spartans". The leaders looked up. It was a signal. As Andrew said the phrase "we're Spartans" the boys all dropped down to their chests. Ten simultaneous sniper shots rang through the air, and before anyone could move the ten mercenaries fell to the floor, each with a black dot embedded on their foreheads where the rubber bullets had knocked them out. "What a bunch of morons" Andrew said. He bent down and began to untie his fellow leaders as the rest of the children from the other teams entered the town.

"Nice shooting Candace", Andrew didn't even have to look up when he said it. The way Candace's feet hit the ground as she walked was one of the ways that Andrew identified his teammates.

"Thank you, man that was close. Were they really planning on shooting with real bullets?"

Sai's voice yelled back to them as he checked the men's guns.

"Goddamit, they weren't fuckin around! All of these guns have got real ammunition in them!"

Andrew frowned; the bastards had actually planned on shooting at them with real ammunition. As Andrew got up and walked towards the bells he couldn't resist kicking the lead mercenary n the face and muttering "that's for threatening my friends you bastard".

Sai walked up to the unconscious men, "here Andrew, allow me", and with that he began to kick each of the men in the stomach while uttering a mumbled curse, no doubt of which would make any saint cringe in pain.

Lord Admiral Hill stood inside the command opps center of the Spartan's camp. As he gazed at the projectors all around the circular room he smiled. Making the mercenaries believe that they had captured the would-be Spartans and then turning the tables on them in one go was a brilliant move. It was these children that would help to defend the future of mankind against the onslaught of the covenant armada and the demonic flood. Lord Admiral Hill leaned forward and pressed the intercom button that was linked to the entire island. "All recruits report to the main opps centre, I will deliver my judgment to you all there". It took about 30 minutes for all of the recruits to reach the command centre, each Spartan team lead by their team leaders. The leaders directed their teammates to seat in chairs that had been placed in a large hall in the opps main command room. Admiral Hill stood behind a podium in the front of the hall, where he addressed all the recruits for the last time.

As the admiral took the stand, the entire hall became pin drop silent. The admiral began his speech, his voice anything but pleased. "You are all a bunch failures! What kind of plan was that put there? You nearly had someone from your team killed! That plan was arbitrary and unorganized! It was a plan of idiots!"

Everyone in the hall was shocked, but none more so than Andrew, it was his plan, his idea to use the leaders as bait, had he condemned them all? Just then the Admiral's voice rang out.

"And that my friends, is what being a Spartan is all about. Doing the unexpected, putting your lives on the line so that you get the job done, and above else, being able to come up with a plan within a small period of time. In accordance to the skill and execution used in your little plan, I say this to you. Welcome to the UNSC… Spartans!

All around the hall the teens cheered. They had done it. They were Spartans…

Please Review….we need as much help as we can get.

Sorry for the cliffhanger


	2. Mission time!

K, I formally apologize to everyone who's reading this story. Me and Kontra were habing a little bit of a dispute over how this was going to progress. Now after lots of arguments, editing, and playing halo we've done the next two chapters in what we hope will keep u interested. Enjoy

Chapter 2

6 months later

They were surrounded. Hot plasma burst across the skies of the planet of Oberon 7. Andrew crouched low in the square of overturned warthogs. Things were looking bad. It had been 6 months since the Spartans had graduated from their training course, ever since then Andrew and his team had been whisked away to different planets accomplishing mission after mission (20 in total) this would be their 21st ...providing they survived. The team had been placed in charge of a growing Covenant threat on the planet. It had been one year since the brutes came to the planet, and the UNSC were getting unruly. Apparently the planet was home to a very experimental subspace teleportation device that would allow for the humans and their allies to travel millions of light-years without the use of ships. And so Andrew's team had been sent to the planet to finish the fight there once and for all, which of course at this point wasn't really going that well.

"Chief! Come in Chief", the hiss from Andrew's radio brought him back to the battle. It was the squadron of marine snipers that Andrew had placed all around battle field. "We have the enemy in sight. Their forces amass to an estimated fifty thousand at least. So far it seems to be mostly grunts and jackals in the front with the brutes giving them orders and support fire from behind, so far no sight of any leaders".

Andrew frowned, he had been hoping to spot the enemy's force's leader so that he and his team could take him down. Typical brutes, always allowing the smaller soldiers first as cannon-fodder while they bring up the rear. A sound on his right made Andrew look to his side. There, crouching beside him while cursing at the brute forces was Andrew's second in command, Sai. In their years as trainees, Andrew had noticed that all Sai seemed to care about was having fun, being funny, burning stuff, blowing shit up and whether or not he got to drive something really, really, _really, _fast. Of course this made him a rather easy target, easily distracted and always making his engines rev Sai was usually the first "casualty" in all of their practice missions. Now after many months of intensive training and war Andrew noticed how Sai began to change from the A.D.D. fool that he was, into a slightly trigger happy, but very skilled fighter, with amazing skills in vehicles, stealth, rapid fire weapons, demolition and was an excellent tracker and scout. If it could move, then Sai could and probably would end up driving it. Of course, some things never changed...

"MOTHER FUCKING WHORE, SHIT! I hate these bloody fucking brutes!! Cowardly bunch of…" the shots from Sai's seemed to drown out his cursing. As Sai went on with his rants and rapid bursts of fire another Spartan behind the two of them was writing complex mathematical formulas on the dirt while muttering to himself…"Trajectory…sine 34.…distance is good…the wind is perfect…"

Greg was the team's techie and weapons "master", him being the one who figured out how to recharge the many plasma based weapons of the covenant armada. With this discovery Greg had become the chief technological and weapons officer for their entire SPARTAN division. Greg was the team's heavy weapons expert, backup demolition expert, grenadier, and a master strategist, among many other intellectual laurels. Over the past few years, Greg had also become something of an expert with traps and surprises.

Greg quickly (relatively speaking) explained his plan to Andrew and Sai.

"Hey guys, if I were to chuck that grenade about 5 feet to the left of that outcrop of rocks over there…the resulting explosion should send those fuel cans behind the rocks into the larger portion of the jackal snipers up on that cliff over there…barring that, I can always use a rocket laun---…..nah, the 'nades should work." 

Sai swiped two fingers across his faceplate in the typical Spartan smile and said with a laugh, "Whatever you think works mate! Just hope you don't miss, or we're all fucked!"

"Well, let's do this! NADES AWAAAY!!!" Greg yelled as he threw 2 frag grenades to the exact spot he had pointed out. The resulting dual explosion blew up 2 of the 5 fuel cans behind the rocks, and sent the remaining 3 canisters careening up towards the cliff, accompanied by plenty of rock pieces.

Greg started to count aloud as he watched the bodies of the jackals drop. "That's one, two three four, five…six…there's seven. HAH! Got 'em all!"

Andrew replied over his comm. "Damn good throw Greg we got----" he was cut off by a shout from Sai,

"oh FUCK!! We've got Brutes rapidly closing on our position! A force of ten or so Ultras approaching at 6 o clock, 3 minor chieftains with hammers at 3 and 9 o clock, and a very large pack of Majors and Minors at 12 o clock!" 

A different voice chimed in over the comm. "Chief, I've got my sights on their main Chieftain, you guys want him dead yet, or is that gonna mess with your plans?" This was Candace. Candace was the team's sniper and long range expert; she was also the most athletic among them, being the fastest, lightest and the best jumper.

Andrew swiftly came up with an on-the-spot plan. "First off guys, this plan starts on my mark!"

"Greg, I need a volley of grenades at our six! When you're out of grenades, I need you to bombard our 12 with as many rockets as you can manage, understood?"

"Yessir!" 

"Sai, plasma grenades to the 9 on my mark, then pick your shots carefully, we're only gonna get one shot at this, I'll take our 3!" 

"Candace? That big chieftain needs to go down as soon as Greg finishes with the grenades, wait for his signal!"

"Aye sir!"

"All right team Paradox, ready…MARK!"

Chaos ensued as Andrew's rapidly thought up plan came into action. Greg's speedy arm and excellent aim soon decimated the force of Ultras directly behind them; he flashed his HUD signal twice, giving the signal to Candace for her shot, quickly running to his appointed rocket spot. Sai and Andrew stuck one hammer brute apiece and brought down the remaining four with several quick headshots from their MA5Bs. Andrew wildly looked around, waiting for Candace's shot. Hoping that she hadn't been taken by surprise by Brute Stalkers

CRACK

The three Spartans in the warthog barricade looked in the direction of the vapour trail, they finally saw the golden-armoured Brute Chieftain fall down from his nearby perch on a cliff. 

Andrew nodded in silent admiration at Candace's perfect aim. Sai and Andrew returned their attention to the force of Brutes in front of them, taking quick potshots and throwing grenades at random, several rockets soared into the morass of brutes, Greg's aim as always was perfect, and all the brutes in that force flew as the rockets exploded.

Andrew barked through the comm.

"Candace, quick scan, any hostiles around us?" 

"Nothing to report Drew, all hostiles neutralized!"

Andrew twitched slightly at the use of his childhood nickname. The nickname brought many memories of their childhood training back to him. All the good times, and the harsh conditions under which they had been trained, but he was glad for it. Because this training had formed them in to an unstoppable force of 400 Spartan warriors. Not a single one of the original 400 trainees had been WIA, KIA, or even been announced MIA.

He remembered back to the first ten missions he had completed with UW Company. The UW Company was comprised of Team Paradox, Team HUX and Team Rubicon and Team Dart. He, Sai, Greg and Candace had all been a part of this company of 12 Spartan soldiers. Among this company were their other friends who had assimilated into Team HUX, Team Rubicon, and Team Dart. Team HUX's leader was Steven. Steven was the best shot in the entire Spartan Corps. A born leader and brilliant battle tactician. His aim and natural talent with all ballistic weapons was legendary in the UNSC. His aim was second only to Linda, (Spartan 058), of the original SPARTAN IIs. He had been named as the Master Chief of the new Spartan generation. Next in the team was Jon, a very well rounded soldier with a superb sense of aim with the newly created "Spartan Laser". He was the only one in the entire Spartan Corps who still had a fascination with an archaic form of humor called "puns". The third member of Team HUX, Kelvin, was an oddity, to say the least. He had no outstanding fighting qualities, besides his odd, but very accurate sense of logic. He often saw flaws where no other would have thought to look, and was always thinking up riddles to entertain the Corps. The fourth and final member of Team HUX was Matt. Matt was a giant, even by the Spartans' augmented standards. Being naturally tall and fit, he was an astounding 7 ft 6. He was the strongest and second fastest member of UW Company, with Candace being the only single Spartan with faster agility, reflexes and overall speed. Team Rubicon was comprised of Chris, Haider, Grant and Wilfred. Chris was a Zero G, Hand to Hand, and stealth specialist, he was also very accomplished in the various Covenant Loyalist & Separatist technologies that they had encountered. Haider was another excellent sniper of the UW Company. He had often worked together with Candace and Sai on reconnaissance missions. The most distinguishing thing about Haider was the aura of calm and safety that he seemed to exude. He had never failed to be there for any of them when it counted. Grant and Wilfred were both scouts and demolition experts. Wilfred, Sai and Grant usually cooperated together to create excellent traps that often involved massive explosions. These two were very close friends and often stood by each-other, doubling up in firefights. Finally, Team Dart was a Special Ops team, comprised of Sheldon, Henry, Jeffrey and Ming. This team was a stealth, aerial, tracking and espionage team. Sheldon was an aerial vehicle master. His piloting and ship-fighting (AKA dogfighting) skills were well praised in the Spartan Corps. Henry, Jeffrey and Ming were a stealth-tracking, demolition, and espionage team. They all had a strange ability to hide in a location, and a minute later appear a full kilometer away without being seen. They had never failed to find and destroy any target they were ever assigned to. The team often used Sheldon for aerial cover as they scoped out their target area. Henry, Jeffrey, Ming, Wilfred, Grant and Sai (when put together) were the best demolition, tracking, scouting and stealth squad in the entire UNSC. As Andrew recalled his days with UW Company, he remembered that fateful day when the UNSC HiCom (High Command) had ordered the breaking of UW Company and had sent the different teams to four different systems. Team Paradox was currently campaigning in the Feldoras System. The whereabouts of Team HUX, Team Dart and Team Rubicon was unknown.

As Andrew recollected on his days with the UW Company, he wondered why he had suddenly started thinking of his old friends. As he turned his attention back to the field, he noticed on his radar a _**massive**_ contingent of Brutes of all ranks headed towards his team's various positions. He noted that there was also a vast amount of Choppers and Prowlers, with 3 AA Wraiths escorting as backup.

Greg's voice crackled in over the comm. "Hey Chief, we've got 2 Pelicans inbound to our position, it looks like they have several vehicles and are obviously bearing reinforcements. Do you have a specific LZ for them?"

Andrew thought quickly and replied back with the location. "The cliff that Candace is on has a huge area of land, wide enough for whatever Company has been sent to reinforce our position. You and Sai fall back to her position to assist with preparations. I'll meet you there in 15 minutes.

As the team split up Andrew stood around the busted warthog and took a look around. The lush jungle atmosphere seemed to be to be lost to Andrew as he stared at the carnage around him. "I hate this part," as Andrew said this he began to walk around the carnage, he bent over the dead bodies of his fallen marines and took their dog tags. Andrew sighed.

"I hate this part"….

15 minutes later, Andrew stood atop the designated hill. The UNSC pelicans landed gracefully on the hill. Andrew's team was already there. As Andrew stood beside his team the dog tags rattled against his amour. Sai, who was standing next to Andrew looked down and said

"Goddamn… so many?"

Andrew looked at Sai, "not everyone's a Spartan Sai".

Just as Sai was about to reply, the doors of the pelicans opened. What was in them shut Sai up momentarily.

A lone Spartan emerged from one of the two pelicans. The distinctive emblem on his armour marked him as Steven, the Master Chief of the next gen. SpartanIIs. Greg was the first to react.

"Master Chief! Sir, what are you doing here? I thought Team HUX was in an entirely different system!" He yelled out with a respectful salute. He smiled widely under his visor.

The Spartan stepped forward and said "Greg, good to see you man! It's not only Team HUX that's here. Team Rubicon and Team Dart have joined us as well. We encountered them on the way to your location. HiCom has ordered the re-formation of the UW Company. Apparently there's something here of relative interest, so we got pulled from our missions to come help you guys since you're obviously doing a sterling job".

Andrew laughed, "Hello Steven. It's been a while eh?"

"Yeah, it has. How's shit out here on Feldoras? HiCom's mission briefing had said that your entire Marine contingent got blown."

"You have no idea Steven. On my way up here, all that was left of Bravo company was these dog tags."

"Welcome to war mate." Steven replied with a hint of a smirk.

Steven made a signal with his hand. 5 warthogs and a hornet were rolled out of the pelicans. 

Steven snapped is armoured fingers loudly, and the rest of team HUX exited the Pelican. Jon, Kelvin and Matt formed up behind Steven. Easily recognized by their respective stances and varied heights.

Nearby, the second Pelican's cargo bay opened. 8 armoured figures jumped out, and were again, easily recognized by their respective stances. Chris, Haider, Grant, Wilfred, Sheldon, Jeffrey, Ming and Henry strode calmly into the sunlight, and all respectfully saluted their Chief, Steven.

"And now it all makes sense..." muttered Candace over Team Paradox's private Comm.

Sai chuckled softly. He was immensely happy that his old teammates were all still alive and, now, they were here to stay, and this time, nothing…not even the goddamn HiCom, would be able to separate the UW Company.

Andrew cut the mood, quite drastically. "SO….uh…while its really great to see you guys, we seem to have a large problem….In the form of several thousand Brutes, along with 10 contingents of choppers and prowlers, as well as 3 AA wraiths for support. We absolutely need to get the fuck out of here, or kill these brutes.

"And that, my friend, is why we are here" said Steven.

His orders then flew thick and fast.

"Snipers! Form up; I want 4 of you besides myself!" "You will need your rifles, extra ammunition, and a mid to short range weapon!"

Haider, Candace, Jeffrey and Greg formed up, with their equipment in tow.

"Now, each sniper will be accompanying a warthog. Obviously enough, you will be sniping from the shotgun seat."

"Vehicle operatives, Sai, you're our best. Pick 4 others to drive the 'Hogs."

"Yessir!"

"Let's see. Wilfred, Grant, Ming and Henry, let's get these hogs prepped!"

Steven gave another few orders,

"Alright, we're going to need gunners. Andrew, Chris, Matt, Jon and Kelvin, you're on turrets! Alright people, let's go!"

"Chief, what about me?" asked Sheldon.

"Sheldon, you're taking the Hornet. Assault and Battle Rifles for weapons. You are our aerial cover. Get things set up. I want a report of the terrain around us, and the progress of those Brutes ASAP.

The Warthogs were filled in teams of 3. The lead 'Hog had Sai, Steven and Andrew. The other 4 were: Wilfred, Haider and Chris; Grant, Candace and Matt; Ming, Jeffrey and Jon, and finally Henry, Greg and Kelvin. Sheldon jumped into the already open cockpit of the Hornet. He ran a large slew of diagnostics just to make sure everything was working properly and that all systems were battle-ready.

While this was all going on, Andrew activated his built in helmet binoculars to survey just what exactly they were getting themselves into. Ahead of the cliff that the company was positioned on lay a 15 foot drop, then after that there lay a ruined city about 1 km away. It was here that Andrew increased the magnification on his binoculars and swore at what he saw.

The city was in absolute ruins. Everywhere he looked there was a building on fire, cars upturned, or bodies lying in pools of blood. But it was what now occupied the city that most concerned Andrew. All around the city behind upturned cars or within the buildings Andrew could see millions of Jackals, Brutes, and Grunts setting up barricades, turrets and being generally bossed around by the brutes that were stationed there. If they traveled in a straight line from their current position, it would be a straight drive right into the heart of the city where the brute's main base was most probably situated.

Andrew looked down at Steven who was carrying a sniper rifle with him into the right-hand seat of the warthog. "Well Steven, what's the plan"? Steven looked up at Andrew and ran his index and middle figures over his face plate (the customary Spartan smile in case you forgot) and said "well, the way I see it, the only thing we can do is charge straight through the middle of the goddamn place, rush the brute base, plant this over sized nuke within it (at this Steven pointed to the large nuke sitting squished in between Sai and Steven) and then run like hell".

Andrew frowned, "typical Steven comes up with the most boned headed, arrogant, suicidal, plan in all of existence and you expect all of us to trust that and put our lives on the line for _that_?" Steven nodded his head. Sai smiled, he knew what Andrew was about to say, and lo and behold he said the exact words Sai was expecting. "So when do we leave chief?"


End file.
